Problems in the Geography of Economic-Transport Links of the World Socialist System

The formation of the world socialist system required the reorientation of existing transport links and the provision of new routes. Differences in the level of technical equipment and in rail gauges present problems for the railroads, which handle 85 per cent of all international freight traffic within the socialist system. The predominance of railroads in expected to persist for the immediate future; steps are suggested for strengthening this sector of the transport system.     

The use of Savings-Bank Statistics in Economic Geography

Soviet savings-bank statistics are examined as a potential source of data in economic-geographic research, with particular reference to four distinctive areas of Donetsk Oblast (Yenakiyevo, a large coal-steel city; Debal'tsevo, a middle-size railroad town; a suburban rural area; and a purely rural area). The average deposit balance in rural areas tends to be larger and more stable than in cities. City dwellers view savings banks as a place for keeping temporarily available money while rural residents use the banks for savings for particular purposes (home building, automobile purchase, etc.). The coefficient of territorial concentration (the ratio of the mean deposit in the local area to the mean deposit in the oblast as a whole) reflects differences in income levels. The mean deposit tends to be highest in suburban rural areas, where employment in the central city is supplemented by the sale of produce from private garden plots. Income levels in Yenakiyevo, with its high-paid labor force in the coal and steel industries, are higher than among the railroad workers of Debal'tsevo. Changes in deposit balances through the year also reflect urban and rural peculiarities in family incomes and expenditures.     

对中国历史地理学渊源问题的再认识

传统认为中国历史地理学渊源于古代沿革地理。本文通过对古代地理学体系概念、学科关系及其著述特点的考察分析 ,认为中国古代地理学自形成以来便存在人文地理和自然地理两大系统 ,并逐步孕育形成了古代历史人文地理和历史自然地理。中国古代历史地理学是现今中国历史地理学的渊源。其中 ,古代历史人文地理与现代历史人文地理 ,古代历史自然地理与现代历史自然地理有着直接的承继关系。     

Geospatial Technologies as a Vehicle for Enhancing Graduate Education and Promoting the Value of Geography

Geospatial technologies (GSTs), such as geographic information systems, global positioning systems and remote sensing, present an avenue for expanding the already strong interdisciplinary nature of geography. This paper discusses how GSTs served as a common thread for a crosscutting faculty institute that was established to enhance graduate student teaching and learning at a comprehensive university. Results of this institute demonstrate that this effort advanced graduate education and promoted the value of geographic scholarship across the university.     

Engineering as a Source of Scientific Ideas

Abstract

Engineering has discovered some laws of nature as limits to what can be done, from which have developed the sciences of thermodynamics, information theory and cybernetics. Considered as a science, engineering lies between physics and biology, because its machines have physical structures and properties but biological organizations and functions. The old idea of the living body as an engine retains its power in modern biology; and the reconsideration of various natural non-biological processes in terms of engineering and biological concept reveals inadequacies in modern physical theory.     

Some Data on the Medical Geography of the European North of the RSFSR

A survey of medical geographic factors in the north shows that special precautions must be taken in the tundra and tayga against frostbite and the common cold, deficiency of ultraviolet radiation and vitamins, and against tick-borne encephalitis and tularemia.     

Manpower Resources as a Key Element in the Economic Geography of an Area

Economic-geographic regional studies have largely neglected manpower resources. Moreover such studies have been concerned mainly with major civil divisions, such as republics, krays and oblasts, which in the case of Siberia assume very large size. Average data for such large areas, particularly in the manpower field, obscure intra-regional differences. The author describes a methodology for determining the number of persons who are occupied with household chores and are not employed in the national economy. The determination of the number of persons not employed in the economy makes it possible to plan increases in production by shifting such manpower reserves into industry or agriculture without the need for additional in-migration.     

Writing for Immediacy: Narrative Writing as a Teaching Technique in Undergraduate Cultural Geography

Narrative inquiry is an innovative means of encouraging students to internalize concepts, reflect on experiences or create applications for theoretical ideas. The use of first-person creative writing in a second-year cultural geography course prompted initial scepticism from students but eventually highlighted their constructivist engagement with course concepts. Despite a number of ethical, evaluative and moral dilemmas, encouraging the use of creative writing as a form of narrative inquiry allowed students to tell their stories so that they were valued and connected to wider disciplinary concepts.     

A Geography of Consumption and a Geography of Services

Professor Kovalev, a specialist in rural settlement, proposes the development of two new branches of economic geography in the Soviet Union that would be concerned with the study of regional differences in consumption and services. The proposal reflects the increasing concern of the Soviet party and government for raising the living standards of the population. Kovalev discusses a number of methodological problems, such as the availability of data.     

A Sign of the Times: Scandinavian Town Directories as Sources for Urban Historical Geography

The position of town and trade directories as sources for the reconstruction of former urban geographies of Scandinavia is discussed. Scandinavian directories have a long history which, in the case of major urban centres, can be traced back to the eighteenth century. They contain valuable information with respect to the social, economic, political and demographic organization of modern Scandinavian urban environments through extensive listings of names and addresses. Despite the wealth of information contained therein, directories remain an underused and unresearched data source due mainly to their perceived incompatibility with the themes pursued by research in urban historical geography and the diversity of alternative high quality sources available. Admittedly, the use of directories is not without problems and an assessment of the accuracy, availability and reliability of directory information is presented in this paper. Nevertheless, to dismiss directories represents a serious oversight: the continued history, rapid rate of update and spatial ubiquity of publication across the region after the onset of industrialization make directories a powerful source for comparative urban historical geography research in Scandinavia. Moreover, directories are highly versatile data sources and represent powerful artefacts of modernity insofar as they function as mirrors of cultural change and consumption.     

Assessing the Use of Real-time DataStreme Weather Data in an Introductory Physical Geography Course

The online data from the American Meteorological Society's DataStreme course have been used successfully in a traditional undergraduate college weather and climate class. DataStreme was designed to train K-12 teachers to transform weather data into exciting learning experiences. Adaptation of these materials so that some of this excitement could be infused in a traditional college setting was the goal of this pedagogical experiment. These data and associated learning materials have been adapted specifically for use in undergraduate weather and climate courses and are now being made available by AMS as Online Weather Studies. This paper describes and assesses the use of online data. The assessment involved a comparison of student self-reports of factual knowledge mastery, skills acquisition and satisfaction with the methods used in two sections of the same course, one offered with the real-time weather data and one without.     

The Geography of Population and the Geography of Services

In discussing a methodology for a geography of services, a new branch of Soviet geographic research, the authors propose geographically meaningful classifications of services, the use of value and labor-input indicators, the problem of a typology of service regions, and other aspects of research in this new discipline. The geography of services is found to be closely related to population geography because of the correlation between the distribution of services and the distribution of population.     

网络话题作为定性数据来源的研究方法探讨——以旅游动机研究为例

本文对利用网络话题获取定性数据的方法、对网络话题的分类、网络话题搜集方法的使用方式和适用范围等进行了探讨。网络话题方法根据研究者参与程度的不同,可分为完全不参与型、一般参与型与强势参与型三种类型,适用于取得多样的、深刻的观点内容。本文的实证研究部分,以网络话题为样本,分析了我国旅游者的旅游动机表达。研究发现：旅游者多数从心理和情感需求角度来叙述旅游动机以及旅游对旅游者个人的影响;我国旅游者的旅游动机主要源于学习、探索、消除心理压力的需要。从网友的话题中还发现：旅游和旅行促进了某些旅游者对家与家乡的热爱,即通过外出旅游,认知了“家”的价值与意义。